The Ultimate
by DaarkLord
Summary: One fundamental change in Konoha's history ruined Naruto's life forever. Now he must relive his horrible nightmares so a madman can search for the fabled 'Ultimate.' But by searching through his memories, can Naruto finally begin to believe in himself?


**Disclaimer ****: Naruto is owned by someone else. **

Authors Note: For a second, forget all you know about Naruto. Forget everything about the fourth, about the Kyuubi…. Because everything is different. Well, not _that _different. But because of one fundamentally change in the history of Konoha, you're going to be introduced to a very different world. What's the big difference? You'll find out in the first chapter (not the prologue.) And the story will start out in Naruto's genin days, so don't worry if you think we will be continually following the timeline present in the Prologue.

By the way, no bashing of characters will be anywhere near my story. And you'll figure out the couples later, though it will not be important for some time. The next chapter will be much longer. See Ya!

Prologue

With great difficulty, Naruto opened his eyes. He blearily blinked all the sleepiness away and glanced around.

_Where the hell am I?_ He thought to himself. _I feel like Lee after taking a couple shots. And that's beyond bad. _He tried to move and realized he was being restrained. He tugged a couple of times at his arm restraints.

He glanced around at the room and bits and pieces began to come back to him. Where he was. How he had got there. And realizing he was in a shitload of trouble. _That _thought hit him like a freight train.

"Kabuto…." He whispered to himself.

"Yes?" A snakelike voiced whispered from beside him. Naruto turned his neck to the right. "You called, Naruto-kun?"

There he was, in all his snakelike glory. Naruto wondered if Kabuto realized that he was no longer human. That he had taken everything that Konoha had stood for… what his father had stood for… and made it into something perverse. How Naruto wished he could break out of these restraints and strangle the bastard.

"Is that anger I see in your eyes, Naruto-kun?" Kabuto asked mockingly. "Surely you aren't angry at your old friend Kabuto."

"You're no friend of mine, Kabuto." Naruto responded. "Now why don't you just let me out of the chakra suppressors so I can kill you and be on my merry way." Kabuto smiled.

"You know I can't do that Naruto-kun. You still haven't told me what I want." Kabuto hissed.

"I'll tell you what I told you last night Kabuto – wait, that sounded dirty. I'll tell you what I said after you were done torturing me yesterday." Naruto replied. "I don't know any more about the Ultimate than you do. And no amount of torture will change that."

"Don't lie to me!" Kabuto abruptly shouted. Naruto cringed.

"Your breath stinks worse than Sasuke's dirty laundry." Naruto commented. "Seriously, dude. I _know _you can afford mouthwash." _That's it, Naruto_, he thought to himself. _Get him mad. Force him to make a mistake. _But Kabuto merely smiled.

"Oh Naruto-kun. Always the dumb little jokester. Worst in his class. But Kakashi sure did turn you around, didn't he?" Kabuto murmured. "I wonder if you'll still be joking after our session today."

"Bring it, Snake-dick." He challenged. Kabuto descended over him and all he knew was pain.

* * *

The next time Naruto woke up, he immediately knew where he was. No disorientation with this ninja.

"Look who finally decided to join us." Kabuto spoke. Naruto gave him a look of pure hatred.

"Go… to… hell…." He managed to respond. Kabuto's smile grew.

"Good news Naruto. I've decide not to torture you anymore." Naruto gave him an incredulous look. He couldn't be serious, could he? "After two weeks of this, I realize that you are just never going to tell me what I want. You're just too self-sacrificial."

"Finally… some sense… out of you…." Last night's session had been particularly painful, and Naruto was having trouble recovering. Usually he bounced right back, but…. "So… just let me go… and we'll call… it even…."

"No can do, Naruto." Kabuto replied waggling his finger. "I said I won't be torturing _you _anymore. I said nothing about anyone else. Tanto! Remove the muffle!"

Naruto listened with horror as the sounds of struggle reached his ears. Then –

"Big Bro! Don't tell them anythi–" The voice was cut off, but Naruto had heard enough to recognize who it was.

"You leave Konohamaru alone you bastards!" He shouted at the door, suddenly regaining his energy through his instant anger. He turned his rage-filled eyes towards Kabuto. "Don't bring him into your sick twisted games, Kabuto!"

"And he won't be," Kabuto responded calmly, "as long as you tell me everything you know about the Ultimate."

Naruto gazed at him, contemplating seriously what he should do. Then he lowered his head.

"All right." He whispered. "You win. What do want to know?"

"Start at the beginning." Kabuto commanded, sitting down directly in front of him. "Tell about the first time you even heard an inkling of the Ultimate's existence. And don't try to stall. You know no one's coming for you."

Naruto growled and prayed that Kabuto was wrong. Hopefully one of his friends would…. Well, whatever Kabuto said, he would make this story take as long as possible.

"The first time I gained any information about the Ultimate, I had no idea that was what they were talking about…."

* * *

Chapter 1

_"I can remember the way the leaves smelt on my first journey away from Konoha. It was a warm summer's day and the graduation exam was coming up, so Iruka took us on our first field exercise…."_

"Naruto! Pay attention!"

"Eh?" Naruto said dismissively, turning away from the scenery and to his teacher. Iruka's eyes were comically filled with rage and it took all of Naruto's self-control to stifle his impulse to laugh. "You say something, sensei?"

"Yes… I did. What did I just ask everyone in the class to do?" Iruka hissed.

"Um…." Naruto pondered, thinking quickly. "…Henge?"

"WRONG!" Iruka bellowed. "Naruto, you're the only one in this class who has taken the graduation exam before; you are also the only one who has failed it two times! If I were you, I would use this training trip to actually pound some information into that useless thing you call a brain!" Naruto cringed as his classmates laughed around him. Idiots.

"But sensei…" Naruto whined. "You're so boring! And this is my first time out of Konoha! I gotta explore." Naruto paused, searching for the right words. "It's what –"

"If you say it's what a Hokage would do, so help me." Iruka barked. "No go and partner up with someone. We're doing practice recon missions."

"All right, all right…" Naruto grumbled. "Not like anyone's going to want to be partners with me anyway." This he said under his breath.

"Still going on about being Hokage, eh, Naruto?" Kiba called to him as he walked pass. Akamaru was perched on his head, and barked along with his matter. Couple of mutts, Naruto thought. Kiba was almost as obnoxious as him, and that was saying something. "I would be Hokage before you. If I wanted to, that is."

"Shut up, dog shit." Naruto remarked as we walked pass. "Go bone Akamaru or something. Pun intended." Akamaru growled, but Kiba merely revealed his primary fangs with a grin.

Naruto spotted his intended target sitting with a gaggle of friends, her pink hair looking quite fetching (in his humble opinion) in the sunlight. He confidently walked over to her, puffed out his chest, and proclaimed:

"Haruna Sakura, it is your lucky day, because I, Uzumaki Naruto, would like to –"

"No, Naruto-baka." Sakura growled, annoyed. "Can't you just leave me the hell alone?" Naruto's heart was crushed, but he kept up a façade of happiness.

"Move it, loser." This was Ami, Sakura's frenemy, and the biggest bitch in the academy, even more so than Ino, in Naruto's opinion. Why they hung out together when they obviously hated each other was a mystery the blond ninja had yet to solve. She stuck out her tongue at him when Naruto glared at her.

"Fine." He mumbled. "I wasn't expecting anything anyway." He stalked off and sat down on a rock, missing the look that the shy Hinata sent his way, even as she agreed to partner with Kiba.

Naruto leaned back on the rock and glanced up at the sky. It was a perfect day, blue tinted, warm sun, a complete contrast to the feelings inside him. Shikamaru would be with Choji, Sakura with Ami, Ino with Maka…. The usual. And Sasuke had his choice of anybody – not that he was around to appreciate it, having been called away by some jounin for some reason. Probably special training. The Uchiha got everything

Not that Naruto cared, much. Life had always been like that for him, and he did not expect that to change anytime soon. He lifted up his hand to the sky, blocking the sunlight.

He had to reach for the future with his own hands. And with that thought in mind, he made a fist.

"No partner, Naruto?" Naruto glanced up and saw Iruka looking down him. He grinned sheepishly.

"heh heh… Sorry sensei." Naruto laughed nervously. "No one can handle the future Hokage, I guess." Naruto was not sure, but was that a flash of… pity in Iruka's eyes? It quickly disappeared though.

"That's fine. Head back to the village gate and grab Sasuke. He'll be your partner." Iruka ordered.

"No, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto cried out, getting on his knees, holding Iruka's chunin jacket, and crying comically. "Anybody but duck-butt hair!"

"You should be happy to have someone as skilled as Sasuke on your team." Iruka pointed out. "Not hop to it. You have twenty minutes; if you do not return within the allotted time, you fail the assignment." Naruto stared at him. "That means go NOW!"

"Okay, okay!" Naruto cried, getting up and dashing off. "Not like a failed assignment will affect my final exam grade anyway!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Iruka smiled.

* * *

Luckily for Naruto's poor grades (oh, how they have suffered) Naruto enjoyed running full sprint in whatever endeavor he happened to be doing, so he reached the gates of Konoha within a few minutes. He saw the gated guards, and over in the corner, Sasuke and some weird guy with silver-hair.

"Yo! Teme!" Naruto called out as he approached. Sasuke, immediately recognizing the voice and the nickname, turned to Naruto with a scowl. The silver-haired jonin eyed him also, but Naruto paid him no mind. "Iruka needs you up at class. As in now!"

"That's fine, Sasuke." The silver-haired man told him, as it looked like Sasuke was about to protest. "We were about done here anyway. Think about the offer. It's quite an opportunity."

"Hn." Was Sasuke's only response. That tended to be his only response a lot of times; at least, that was the way it seemed to Naruto.

"If you have any questions…." He motioned at himself. "Feel free."

"Hn." See what he meant?

The man disappeared without saying another word. Naruto stared at the spot he had been previously standing jealously. When would he learn how to do that?

"Who was that?" He asked Sasuke, very curious. Sasuke looked at him, and quickly looked at away. "Hello, teme, I asked you a question."

"I thought you said we were needed urgently." Sasuke reminded him with probably the most words he had spoken all day.

"Oh yeah! Come on, we gotta get there five minutes ago." Naruto spoke as he took off. Within moments, Sasuke had overtaken him. Show off.

The run back to the camp was quiet, except for Naruto's labored breathing as he tried to keep up with Sasuke's brutal pace. He had a lot of stamina, but he had just done this run only a few minutes ago, and Sasuke was running like he had something to prove. He was probably doing this just to mess with Naruto. Inside that stoic persona was an evil prankster rivaling Naruto's own, and don't let anyone tell you any different!

They reached the stone summit of the mountain even faster than Naruto had before, however, so Naruto said nothing. But they quickly realized no one was there.

"Dammit! They left us." Naruto moaned. "We weren't that late, were we?" Sasuke did not anser him, instead walking over to a rock near the center. Naruto watched as he reached down and picked up a ripped off piece of scroll. On it, it said: To Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto tried to look at it, but Sasuke blocked off his approach with one hand to Naruto's face as he read it. Naruto backed off, angry.

"Yo, teme! I want to read that too."

Sasuke tossed it to him.

"You never told me we were partners." He commented.

"I was hoping Iruka-sensei had been joking." Naruto replied. He wasn't joking.

"Hn. Just don't me back." Sasuke commented and stalked off.

"Hey! Wait up!" Naruto shouted, running after him while reading the note at the same time.

It read:

Naruto, Sasuke. You took too long, but no worries. Your task is to find your classmates who are hiding near the pond, sneak up on them, and still a red piece of paper. To find this pond, merely find the giant oak and make a left; the exact whereabouts of the pond you must discern using your own tracking skills.

The other team wins if they are alerted to your presence, or you do not steal the paper from them within two hours, in which the seal on the red paper will cause it to spontaneously combust. It has a one hundred percent success rate, so do not think that you can just call foul. The teams who win the exchange will be treated to a special kunai.

Good luck.

- Iruka

Naruto tucked the note in his pocket and tore off after Sasuke. He tried to remember where the

Oak tree Iruka had pointed out when he was showing them the area was. So that's why he had taken them on that stupid tour!

"Yo! Teme!" Naruto said as he approached Sasuke. "You any idea where this Oak tree is?"

"Of course." Sasuke responded arrogantly. "Unlike you, I pay attention." Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Bigshot?" Naruto retorted. "I bet that silver-haired dude was there to kick you out of the academy for stinking up the place!"

"Actually, he was here to offer me a place in the fast-track anbu program." Sasuke replied haughtily. Naruto silently congratulated himself for extracting the information from Sasuke. Though….

"What the hell is that?"

… He still had no idea what an 'anbu' was.

"You're joking." Sasuke deadpanned. "No, of course not. You _would_ not know what an Anbu is."

"I do too know what an Anbu is!" Naruto denied. "Er… they're the kitchen ninjas, right? The ones that cook the food for the field ninjas?" Sasuke glanced at him incredulously.

"No, you idiot." Sasuke corrected. "How can you not know what an Anbu is? They were chasing you yesterday."

"Oh…" Naruto remembered his escapades amongst the Hokage monuments yesterday. Those guys who chased him had been Anbu. "The masked guys? Those losers? Ha! You deserve to join up with a bunch of guys who can't even catch a twelve-year old!"

"Hn." Sasuke responded, apparently having gotten tired of the conversation and Naruto's ridicule. "I guess that's why you're dead last… dobe." Or maybe not.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted. "Just you wait, you stupid duck-butt haired son-of-a…." But he said most of this under his breath, and was unheard by Sasuke.

The pair traveled in relative silence until Sasuke, seeing the oak, led them to it. They stopped and Sasuke turned around, holding out his hand. Naruto looked at it.

"What?" He asked. Sasuke glared at him

"The scroll." He demanded.

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed. He reached into his pocket where he had put it only to pull out… nothing.

"Where the hell is it?" Sasuke asked. Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"Looks like I must have misplaced it… but don't worry! I remember every word!" Naruto responded confidently. Sasuke gave him a look.

"Really." Was all he said. Naruto glared at him.

"Of course I do! Which is more than I can say about you, Mr. I-can-remember-exactly-where-the-oak-tree-is!"

"I didn't think I had to memorize it because I didn't realize my idiot partner would lose it!" Sasuke countered. "My mistake."

"It doesn't matter; we're supposed to go right." Naruto stated. Sasuke looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Are you sure?" He questioned.

"Of course! I'm never wrong!" Naruto replied and took off to the treetops to the right, Sasuke following behind grudgingly.

He was wrong.

* * *

"We're lost." Sasuke deadpanned.

"We're not lost." Naruto denied.

"You're right. You are lost and I am following you." Sasuke professed angrily. "Why did I ever think you knew where you were going!"

"Wait a minute, okay?" Naruto replied. "We'll definitely see evidence of the camp soon. Just over – that – tree…." He gritted out as he jumped over said tree. Sasuke followed and stopped beside him. They both looked down.

"…hn." Sasuke said, surprised. "The dirt's displace and there's a print. You were right."

"I was right!" Naruto called out, even more surprised (he had been convinced in his mind that they were lost.) "I mean, of course I was right! I'm always right!" Ignoring him, Sasuke began following the trail. Annoyed, Naruto followed along.

Sasuke was silent as he traced the path that the previous ninja had taken, paying careful attention to the size of the prints, stealth taken, and other factors. That, or he was just looking at dirt. Naruto couldn't tell.

"This person is pretty good." Sasuke confessed. "They led false prints in many directions. But they tried too hard."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. He could not helped but be impressed by Sasuke's deduction.

"There is only one path that doesn't have print leading towards it." Sasuke commented, smirking to himself. "Follow me, and try not to get lost, idiot." Naruto narrowed his eyes, but did as Sasuke.

Sasuke and Naruto quickly cut a path through the trees, Naruto keeping his eyes out for impending danger. He needed to beat Sasuke. So far, Sasuke had showed him up in every respect imaginable. And his stupid smirk was starting to piss him off. Was that the only emotion he ever showed?

"Stop." Sasuke commanded. Naruto begrudgingly stopped. "Trees. Now."

"Who died and made you leader?" Naruto asked. "Why don't you tell me why first?" Sasuke whirled around and grabbed Naruto by the shirt.

"Shut up, you idiot." Sasuke said. "If it was up to me, I would have left you behind at the summit. Unfortunately, this test requires that we both return with the red note so stop. Questioning. My. Orders." His voiced was laced with annoyance but Naruto merely glared at him.

"If you just told me why…." Naruto began when they both heard a sound. Sasuke cursed.

"That's why!" He whispered. "Get in the trees and hide!"

Naruto finally relented, seeing the sense in Sasuke's request, but still annoyed at the way he said it. They both quickly quelled their chakra signatures and waited patiently for their classmates to arrive.

" –is why we need to enact it quickly. If you don't, he will be unpleased." One of the two cloaked figures that appeared from the bushes spoke.

"It's not the right time." The other person spoke. He was a person both Naruto and Sasuke recognized immediately.

"Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto hissed. Sasuke bonked him on the head and covered his mouth, while simultaneously edging closer.

"Make it the right time." The other figure commands. "Our Master commands it. We need its secrets."

"Our 'Master' should know that the best way to operate is to move as silently and slowly as possible." Mizuki countered. "What jutsu could he possibly want that badly?"

"Questioning the Master's motives, Mizuki?" The hooded man susurrated. "It seems that you have forgotten your place." The man moved closer.

"My place?" Mizuki responded. "I was under the impression that we were equal partners in this endeavor."

"Then you thought wrong!" The man shouted, attacking Mizuki. Or he would have, if an orange blur did not whiz by his face at that very moment.

You see, Naruto and Sasuke had both been leaning closer and closer to hear the enthralling conversation better. Unfortunately, only Sasuke had balance.

"Ahhhhh!" Naruto shouted as he fell through the trees and in front of the two. He rubbed the back of his head and looked up. Both figures stared down at him.

"Naruto?" Mizuke whispered.

"You know this fool?" The other asked.

"Unfortunately. Don't worry, I'll… dispose of him." Mizuke said, approaching threateningly. "And then we can finish our discussion." Naruto quickly backed up, terrified. How would he get out of this one!

"No you won't." This was Sasuke, who had just jumped out of the tree. "All you have to do is die, traitor." He threw a few shuriken at the two enemies, who jumped in opposite directions to avoid them. Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"Run, dobe!" Sasuke shouted. Naruto got up, preparing to run, but turned around when he realized Sasuke was not following him.

"What about you?" He questioned. Sasuke gave him a grim look.

"I'll hold them off until you can get back to Iruka-sensei." Sasuke responed. "Get reinforcements! Go!"

Naruto nodded and began to run. What was he to do against so fearsome a foe as two highly trained ninjas? Just let Sasuke the hero handle it.

Sasuke…. Naruto bristled as he thought of the name. Sasuke always got the attention. The love. All Naruto ever wanted was to be acknowledged by his peers in spite of his… past. Sasuke got that and did not even know what he had, always brooding like he did.

For once, just for once… Naruto wanted to be the hero. And with that determination, he turned around.

Back in the clearing, Sasuke was losing badly. Mizuki he could sort have handle, but this other guy…. Sasuke could tell that at this point, they were both playing with him.

"What are Konoha's favorite son, and her most reprehensible scorned prankster doing out in the woods?" Mizuki questioned as he hit Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke doubled over, coughing up blood.

"It doesn't matter, Mizuki." The other man said, holding a kunai to Sasuke's neck. "He dies, now." The man leaned in close to Sasuke's ear. "Try and escape, little brother." Sasuke's eyes widened, finally recognizing the voice.

"No!" Naruto shouted, bursting through the clearing. "You're gonna have to go through me first!"

"And so we shall." The man spoke, tossing his kunai toward Naruto and then….

…All he knew was darkness.

* * *

The next time Naruto awoke, he was in the hospital in Konoha. He felt a massive pain in his shoulder and could barely move his arm. Looking around the room, he spotted his clothes on the chair, recently cleaned. Then the door open and a nurse walked.

"What happened…?" He said tiredly. The nurse did not look up at him, but she did respond.

"Shoulder wound. You're lucky to have survived." I know you wish I didn't, Naruto thought, but kept it to himself. "You will be good to go in about a week."

"A week!" Naruto shouted. "But the genin exam is in two days!"

"That is of no consequence." The nurse said. "You will rest, or lose the use of your arm. Permanently."

"Well… what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "What happened to him?" The nurse stared at him, but ignored his question. Instead, she opened the door, and another man walked in. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Leave us." The figure hissed. The nurse nodded and quickly left the room, leaving Naruto and the last person Naruto wanted to see in a room together.

There was silence as one figure stared at the other. Naruto tried to avoid the man's gaze.

"Naruto-kun." The man spoke. "When I agreed to let you become a ninja, I only gave you one stipulation. What was that?"

"…That as long as I am not a burden, I will be allowed to serve." Naruto mumbled. The man nodded his head in agreement.

"Getting our top ninja recruit injured, ruining a top secret sting operation, wasting our skilled medical staff's time; what does that all sound like to you, Naruto-kun?"

"A burden, Hokage-sama." Naruto replied quietly. This was one man who he dared not show disrespect to. But then a question formed. "Wait, did you say sting operation?"

"You heard correctly." The Hokage said, staring straight at Naruto. "Mizuki always has, and always will be a loyal Konoha ninja. How did you think you got out of there alive?"

"But… he…." Naruto stuttered, confused. "He was planning to steal something! I heard it!"

"As have I, Naruto-kun. Mizuki tells me all information he has gathered in his spy role." The Hokage countered. "I thought, Naruto, that with a lineage such as yours, you would be seeking to redeem your name, not drag it further through the mud."

"I don't have a name to redeem." Naruto countered. "The Uzumaki name has no such blood associated with it."

"But your real name does. Taking your mother's name does not change that fact." The man got up to leave. "Get well soon, Naruto. And think on my words." He began to depart.

"Yes… Orochimaru-sama." Naruto agreed.

The door slammed shut.


End file.
